Time for the Bop-A-Tear

[Hepcat]

Hey Y´All,

it´s time to start this new build thread. Like any good German, I have introduced myself in the newbie´s section, and presented my design ideas in the member design section. Even though not all the issues before I really could start building have been solved, i opted to start anyway, as a lot of the issues depend on the quality of my build and some "early" issues may be resolved at a later stage once the build is under way. Here´s an explanation.

Cornerstones of my design (see profile here)


- Tear for three
- sleeping sideways, so interior width of about 6'5"
- typical tear design
- brilliantly cool name that has something to do with music. I am also contemplating Rock-A-Tear, Tearabilly, Gretsch´n´tear or some such. Guess what my other hobby is??
- lightweight and mostly built of reclaim materials and leftovers from my late grandfather (master cabinetmaker)
- sunk floor and interior seating
- simplicity at its best. I am currently condensing electrics to the minimum. Basically I won´t camp off-grid, so 230V connection to campsite is sufficient. Lighting will be battery-operated LED. Not much cabling necessary here.
- No gas or water installations. Cooking on 2-plate 230V electric, water supply in canisters with spigots

Now here the problems start: In Germany, you cannot simply build a camping trailer bya yourself without inviting crucification by the technical inspection. You would need to prove fire-retardant properties, splinter-resistance , load maxima, lateral stability yadda yadda. Way too much trouble. However, if the box just sits on top of a flatbed trailer and can be removed without tools, it is considered load and none of this applies. So how am I going to attach the box to a flatbed trailer (mind, I don´t want to build too high, so I was just going top use the flatbed as a floor for the interior, and on top of that, there´s the sunk floor...), so I have to construct a box with open bottom. In order to stabilize the side wall, I will fix the forward bunk permanently into the structure to give rigidity. Next problem: registration of the flatbed trailer. It needs to be stable by itself, so a metal L-profile frame around the plate is needed, which hinders the mounting of the box, which shouldn´t slide sideways on the flatbed. Here´s what the bed looks like right now:


You will notice that the front part of the trailer frame is just an A-frame, which means the outer edges are not terribly well supported. In fact, the plate sags quite a bit there. I am hoping that with the aluminium L-profile this will be reduced, or I will never get a tight fit of the box on top of it.
Next problem: The woodshop where I ordered the base plate (which came in 400x215 cm size), fu**ed up the cutting down to size and made the darn thing almost 2 inches too small. That would mean I only have 6'3" interior width - not enough. Now I am contemplating of putting a perpendicular strip on both sides of the plate of about 4" height and a thickness of 5/8". That attached to the left and right would add 1.5" to the width, but it means that the side walls of the box would partially sit on those ledges. Is this stable enough? I would have to mount those ledges with cross-members on the underside fixed to the base plate laterally, so that they wouldn´t cave in sideways. Complications after complications...

More news next time.

[cecil]

Nice start ! keep the pic`s coming
Cecil In NENC USA

[Shadow Catcher]

Welcome to the forum. There are others that have dealt with EU standards here.
The original MicroLite Wazat http://www.microlitetrailer.com/ was removable and lite enough for two people to lift.
I can think of a couple of ways to make yours removable with out tools, turn buckles, Bolts mounted hanging down with wingnuts and lock washers, draw down hinge latch,

[KCStudly]

I am very interested in following your build; I always enjoy seeing how things are done differently in different regions given the variances in material supplies and regional methods that always seem to develop.

I second the recommendation to use draw latches to secure the cabin. The are quick, easy to adjust for tension, can be secured with padlocks or cheap carabiners, and are tolerant of slight misalignment.

Regarding the chassis and joint detail questions for the wood shortage, perhaps a quick sketch would help better understand the problem and proposed solution. Pictures are worth thousands of words.

[Hepcat]

Thanks for everyone´s input. In fact, I was plannung to put 6 to 8 tie-down points on the flatbed, each about 2-3 inches off the outer edges, and connect the rings to the box with spanner nuts on the inside of the box, hidden by furniture (inside the front bunk and the middle dinette, for example). I´ll have to reinforce the side walls at the attachment points. But I´ll also need to put some corner blocks down on the bed, to make sure there is no sideways movement of the box during travelling.

Right now I am working on the passenger side wall, and since it is cold and wet over here, I am mostly working in my basement, which is really cramped due to the heating installation. Unfortunately, I don´t have a proper garage, barn or workshop, so I´ll have to make do:
[img][/img]
[img][/img]

To give the wall maximum stability, I am grooving out the joints. Lotsa work, but hopefully worth it
[img][/img]

The front end with the curve is a particular challenge, as I have to take into account the mounting of the roof cross-spars and make the frame part that joins the roof particularly strong and wide.

While horizontal members are about 1.25 inches wide, and most vertical members 1.5 inches, I am going for full 2 inches on the profile. I am not talking about wall thickness here, that is 20 mm (0.8 inches) throughout. The 2 inch profile with a thickness of 20 mm will have almost one inch routed away at a thickness of 10 mm (half of the total wall), so that a ledge appears that will take 3mm (1/6 inch) ply sheets for the roof interior plus the 20 mm (0.8 inch) roof spars, and the upper end of the roof spars will align with the upper end of the remaining side wall, and all will be coverd with another sheet of 3 or 4 mm ply. At least, that´s the plan.

[Hepcat]

here´s what the final product should look like

That being shown, I´ll probably recess the side wall that is under the door level slightly towards the interior, since I´ll have to stabilize the bed with aluminium profiles

Interior: front bunk, dinette/double bed, small wardrobe in between


generous 6'4" wide kitchen in rear


Plus a gazebo over the door and we should be good to go.

[KCStudly]

Nice model. Will it sit that low in real life? Looks pretty low.

[Hepcat]

No, it won´t sit that low, I just didn´t put a proper axle on the model. Ground clearance once the side wall is mounted and reaches under the level of the trailer frame should be about 7 inches.

[rowerwet]

Moving my tear between frames a few times, I discovered that it is easier to move the body sideways. Remove one wheel, using a floor jack raise the tear, insert pipes between the tear and frame, then a slight shove rolled it right off.
If I was building a removable tear, I would have a dolly, like a huge furniture moving dolly, to roll it onto.

[Hepcat]

Cool idea. However, on this build the wheel wells form an integral part of the structure and would hinder rolling off in any direction. The removability is more a workaround for the technical inspection rather than a fully functional, everyday option. I would not be planning to remove the box more than once every two years when technical inspection is up.

[Breytie]

On mine, the wheel centers is barely below the level of the frame. Fully loaded it should be about level. The fenders are bolted to the frame.

My procedure to remove the box:
Remove fixings and fenders
Lower the hitch (lifting the galley end)
Insert trestles under floor at the rear
Lift hitch (rear lifts off frame)
Insert beam under body and support on trestles
Lower hitch and remove original trestles
Raise hitch as high as practical
Insert trestles under floor at the front
lower hitch a bit
insert long beam on trestles under front of body
lower hitch to horizontal and pull out frame

I am looking at various combinations of rollers, frames, even overhead support to ease the process.

[Hepcat]

Got a major thing done this weekend: side wall frame no.1 is done! And it is looking good and sturdy...
[img][/img]


Now I´ll start on the driver´s side wall frame. Gimme a few weeks.

[KCStudly]

Woo hoo!

[noseoil]

Looks really nice so far. Keep up the good work!

[Hepcat]

This weekend I was on a roll. Thanks to unusually good weather saturday, I was able to align frame pieces for the driver´s side wall on the already finished frame, cut everything to size and join most parts. So far, the second frame is about 80% done, just missing the upper parts which will define the overall shape. After having toiled for weeks on the other side, I wouldn´t have thought it could go that fast.
Here´s what I have been doing.


and using the trailer bed as a workbench...I cannot fit the completed side wall frame in my workshop anymore, so until I get it skinned and mounted on the trailer, I´ll have to store it under the carport or inside the house...